South Florida Landscape Dynamics

Project Investigator: John W. Jones Project Personnel: Gail Winters Project Start Date: 2001 End Date: 2009 Recent Funding: (FY08) USGS GE PES, USGS LRS Program, (FY07) USGS GE PES, USGS LRS Program, (FY06) USGS GE PES, (FY05) USGS GE PES, USGS/BRD Proposals Work Plans Project Summaries Data Metadata Publications

Summary

The objective of this research is to develop and apply innovative remote sensing and geographic information system techniques to map the distribution of vegetation and related hydrologic variables such as evaporation through space and over time.

For more information, please see the Tides and Inflows in the Mangrove Ecotone (TIME) Model Development Project Webpage and the Everglades Depth Estimation Network (EDEN) Ground Elevation Model web page.

Multiple south Florida stakeholders from government, private industry, environmental, and citizen sectors have begun collaborating in an effort to return the Florida Everglades system to its natural state. Research into the measurement and modeling of water movement and other hydrologic processes have therefore been identified as a primary science need in support of Everglades restoration. In order to accurately simulate surface water hydrology in South Florida, the variation in vegetation cover and the role vegetation plays in removal of surface water, resistance to surface water flow, and water quality, is necessary. The objective of this research is to develop and apply innovative remote sensing and geographic information system techniques to map the distribution of vegetation and related hydrologic variables such as evaporation through space and over time. This work will provide insights regarding the role south Florida vegetation plays in the redistribution of rainfall and surface flow inputs as well as the cycling of nutrients and other materials in the Everglades waters. It will contribute to our understanding of hydrology at large scales. Finally, it will lay the foundation for monitoring restoration impacts on Everglades flora. These benefits are vital in building the understanding required to properly monitor, simulate, and manage the unique Everglades wetland resource.

Proposals

• 1998
• 1999

Work Plans

• 2003
• 2004
• 2005
• 2006
• 2007
• 2008

Project Summaries

• 2001
• 2002
• 2003
• 2004
• 2005
• 2006

Data

• Ground Elevation (DEM)
• Soils Maps for Collier and Miami-Dade County (from the data exchange pages)
• South Florida Satellite Image Map (Northern and Southern Everglades)
• Vegetation Map for SICS Study Area

Metadata

• South Florida Landscape Dynamics (project metadata)
• Collier County FL soil map (data set metadata)
• Miami-Dade County FL soil map (data set metadata)
• Northern Everglades Satellite Image Map (data set metadata)
• Southern Everglades Satellite Image Map (data set metadata)

Publications

Abstracts

• An Evaluation of Airborne Remote-Sensing Technologies for Everglades Solution-Hole Detection and Characterization (from the GEER Conference, June 2006)
• Preliminary Spatially Distributed Estimates of Evapotranspiration Using In-situ and Satellite Remote Sensing Data
• The Derivation of Land Cover Characteristics for Hydrologic Research in the Everglades (from the GEER Conference, December 2000)
• The South Florida Land Characterization Project (from the South Florida Restoration Science Forum, May 1999)
• The South Florida Satellite Image Map Series: A Tool for Research, Monitoring, and Education (from the GEER Conference, April 2003)
• Vegetation Density Classification from Clustered Multispectral and Resolution-Enhanced Thermal Data Using a Neural Network
• Vegetation Density Mapping from Multispectral and SAR Imagery Using Artificial Neural Network Techniques (from the GEER Conference, December 2000)

Bibliographies

• Land Characteristics from Remote Sensing - Bibliography

Fact Sheets

• Land Surface Analysis of the Florida Everglades (2004-3132)
• Reflectance Calibrated Digital Multispectral Video: A Test-Bed for High Spectral and Spatial Resolution Remote Sensing
• The Everglades Depth Estimation Network (EDEN) for Support of Ecological and Biological Assessments (USGS Fact Sheet 2006-3087)

Maps

• South Florida Satellite Image Map (Northern and Southern Everglades)

Open File Reports

• Conceptual design of the Everglades Depth Estimation Network (EDEN) grid (USGS Open File Report 2007-1200)
• Initial Everglades Depth Estimation Network (EDEN) digital elevation model research and development (USGS Open File Report 2007-1034)

Papers

• Crop freezes and land-use change in Florida
• Land Characterization for Hydrologic Modeling in the Everglades (from the proceedings of the Third International Symposium on Ecohydraulics, July 1999)